Oxidative steam reforming of ethanol over carbon nanofiber supported Co catalysts

The effect of the cobalt particle size in the ethanol oxidative steam reforming reaction for hydrogen production was investigated using cobalt on carbon nanofiber catalysts. The smallest (<4 nm) particles showed a significantly larger amount of acetaldehyde and smaller amount of H2 as compared to larger ones. This result indicated that the C–C cleavage is more difficult on small Co particles under OSR conditions, which was due to a higher extent of surface oxidation of smaller particles in this reaction. The catalysts with larger Co particles (>4 nm) were quite stable during OSR reaction but significant carbon formation was detected.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload high-quality image (336 K)Download as PowerPoint slideResearch highlights▶ The C–C cleavage is more difficult on small Co particles under OSR conditions, which was due to a higher extent of surface oxidation of smaller particles in this reaction. ▶ Catalyst deactivation is due to a higher extent of surface oxidation of smaller particles during OSR. ▶ Significant carbon formation was detected for the catalysts with larger Co particles (>4 nm).